Festival Funtime
by Groudon199
Summary: The Starswirl Music Festival is taking place this year, and all of us are attending. It's my first music festival! One of those events you'd want to relive over and over again, and it's only day one! [language, suggestive themes, Sunset's Backstage Pass spoilers]
1. Day One

**A/N: Told from Olivia's POV, this covers the 1-hour special that aired in the United States and was uploaded to YouTube in multiple parts.**

**Full character bios are on my profile, but here is a brief summary. Told from her POV, Olivia Frost is light grey with shoulder-length brown hair, and she wears a below-the-knee prosthetic right leg (which is normally covered up) and round glasses (same size as Twilight's). Throughout this story, she is wearing a black t-shirt with the logo for the band DragonHearts ****– a fictionalized version of the band DragonForce ****– on it, and the shirt is pulled up slightly and tied in the front, exposing her midriff. She's also wearing black shorts that stop about an inch above her over-the-knee socks. Cloudflare, who goes by his nickname, is light orange with short green-blue hair, and he's wearing his usual clothing.**

* * *

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. I never took Sunset to be the type of person who sleeps late, especially with her and Pinkie being super hyped over seeing the duo PostCrush at the Starswirl Music Festival. They make _me_ look like an _average_ Cheese Sandwich fan by comparison! You figure she'd be the first one up.

Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone.

Ever since the cruise all of us went on for spring break, he and I have been closer than ever. With Lemon Zest's encouragement beforehand, I convinced Flare to take the next step in our relationship. I wanted to do it _on_ the cruise, but Rainbow interrupted us when she saw the Storm King's insignia in the water, which wasn't there when she dragged everybody onto the deck. We were both mad at her for interrupting us, and _I_ was annoyed at Flare for telling our friends we were about to have sex. One surprise visit to Equestria later through a portal on a random deserted island, and we find out some of the Storm King's magic leaked into our world and was threatening to capsize the ship. I gave Flare a "told you so" expression when I found that out. He said I'd be safer on the ship than following him, Sunset, and Twilight in their search for Rainbow, and it turned out to be the opposite. We used the Storm King's staff to absorb the magic, but the ship was beyond repair. With everyone safe, we all went back to Equestria and through Princess Twilight's portal to return to Canterlot. Well, _our_ Canterlot.

While my parents were relieved that I was safe, I knew my father would be upset if I told him exactly what happened. I convinced him to be satisfied that I'm alright and he didn't need the details. I told my mother later, but of course Dad overheard. He wasn't very pleased, and once again I got frustrated by how much he's trying to "protect" me.

My father hates all this magic stuff. As soon as he found out my friends have all these magic powers and the dangerous situations I was in because of them, he forbade me from hanging out with them. He even wanted me to break up with Flare. Thankfully, my mother was able to talk him out of it. She saw how happy I was after becoming their friend, and I _begged_ him to let me keep dating Flare. He gave in and let me continue hanging out with them, but he doesn't want them in his house. Flare can come in, but he can't have his geode on him. If something _were_ to happen to me, Dad is holding him responsible.

I know why Dad overreacted. He almost lost me once, and he doesn't want something like that to happen again. That said, I'm 18 now. If I want to spend time with them, he can't stop me. Besides, nothing life-threatening is gonna happen to me. Aside from nearly falling into Equestria during the Friendship Games. And nearly falling into Juniper's mirror void. And _maybe_ being imprisoned and sensory-deprived for hours when the Storm King took over, but was that really "life-threatening"? Really, as long as there aren't any pits, I should be fine. Hell, I avoided a life-threatening scenario by disobeying my boyfriend!

Something Dad _isn't_ concerned about is the age difference between me and Flare. I'm 18, but Flare is still 17. Technically, it's illegal for me to engage in sexual activity with him, and Twilight reminded me of that. She and Timber Spruce waited until she turned 18 because she didn't want him to get in trouble. It's only a problem if Flare's mother doesn't approve, though, and she's okay with it. Besides, he's only 7 months younger than me. We're practically the same age!

Flare and I ended up having our first time at his house that day. Gotta admit, it was very awkward. It's to be expected when neither of us had any experience, although he had an idea what to do, but I didn't think it would be _that_ awkward. While it felt great being so close to him, Lemon definitely overhyped it. Flare's performance didn't have me "seeing stars".

That time, anyway. Practice makes perfect, and he's _more_ than made up for it!

"Starswirl day one!" I hear Rainbow yell. I open one eye and look in that direction. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement and whacks Sunset in the butt with – who must've just walked out of the RV.

I separate from Flare. "Sunset's awake."

"Oh, uh... Sorry," Rainbow says to Sunset. "I'll be more careful from now on."

"Talk about a pain in the rear," I say.

"Eh, not gonna let a little thing like intense pain ruin this perfect day!" Sunset says excitedly.

"Wow," I say to Flare. "She reminds me of myself when we went to the Cheese Sandwich concert."

"No kidding!"

I hear someone spit something out, then they start laughing. I look that way. Applejack has apple juice all over her shirt and Fluttershy is laughing.

"Sorry!" Fluttershy says. "That one has animals in it!"

Pinkie rushes over to them. "What do you call a PostCrush fan with three eyes? Pinkie Pie!"

Heh! I see what she did there. She even motioned to where her "third eye" would be.

"Um... I don't get it," Fluttershy says.

What? "How does she not get it?" I whisper to Flare. "Pinkie Pie has 3 'i's in her name."

"Technically, her name is Pinkamena Diane Pie," he whispers back.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, Mudbriar," I sarcastically whisper. "Still 3 'i's. It's easy if you know how to spell."

"Maybe she thinks 'Pinkie' is spelled with a 'y' instead of 'i-e'."

"Who doesn't know how their friends' names are spelled?"

"I'm just saying."

If only this wasn't one of the last things I do with these girls... and I still need to tell Flare. Well, I need to tell all of them, but my boyfriend deserves to hear it first.

After the festival is over.

* * *

After a change of clothes for Applejack, we start walking to the festival gate. The anticipation is almost unbearable! My first music festival!

"Whoa!" Sunset yells. I look behind me. She has her hands on Flare's back.

"Easy there, Sunset," he says with a chuckle. "I know you still have feelings for me, but you gotta control yourself!" I can tell he's joking around.

"I can't help myself sometimes," she replies, also in a joking tone. "You're _so_ handsome!"

I look at Sunset's shoes. One of them has mud on it, and there's a mud puddle next to her.

Sunset hasn't had much luck with guys in this world. Flash broke up with her once he had enough of her crap, Flare broke up with her because he felt they were moving too fast – ironic, seeing he and I moved even faster – hell, I kissed him immediately after asking him out again – and her second chance with Flash only lasted about a month longer than Flare. She never told us why they broke up, but I suspect it's because she still likes Flare.

Pinkie yanks Sunset into the center line, and Flare and I enter the line on the right behind Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Twilight.

There are a few acts I want to see the most. Weez are performing today, DragonHearts are performing tomorrow around lunchtime, and Songbird Serenade is closing out the festival. She's debuting a song from her upcoming album at the end, and I'm really excited to hear it.

"Um... Excuse me... Olivia Frost?" That voice... Why _her?_

I close my eyes. "Flare? Is the person behind me who I think she is?" I calmly asks.

"Uh... Th-That depends. Who, um... Who do you think it is?"

I hope for her sake I don't flip out the moment I see her. "Well, it sounds like one Wallflower Blush." I open my eyes and turn around. Sure enough, it's her. "What the _hell_ do you want?!"

"I..." She looks very afraid to be around me. As well she should be. "I want to... t-talk about what I did last year."

"You mean how you tried to take away my boyfriend's memories of me because you didn't like that Sunset was never _specifically_ nice to _you?!"_ And my other friends' high school memories.

She gulps. "I'm s-sure you want to beat the stuffing out of me, and I probably deserve it." To be honest, I think she deserves to have _everybody's_ memories of her erased. And I mean _eve-ry-bo-dy!_ "But, um... I... I want to apologize."

Is she serious? "Apologize? That was a _year_ ago, and _now_ you want to apologize?!"

"In-In her defense," Flare says to me, _"you_ said you didn't want to see her."

"I _should've_ said this last year," Wallflower says, "but I was too afraid of what you would do to me. Flare told me how important he is to you and what you've been through with Sunset. I'm very, _very_ sorry. I was so intent on making _her_ miserable, I didn't think how miserable it would make _other_ people."

"You sure as hell didn't!" Well, I'm not _as_ mad as I would've been if she did this right away. I guess time _does_ heal all wounds. Or at least make the wounds less painful. I guess I _could_ forgive her. "If I got my hands on that rock a year and a half ago, who's to say I wouldn't have done the same? Make Sunset Shimmer suffer like she made _me_ suffer, not caring who else gets hurt. I mean, _I_ would be more justified than _you."_ I did say last year making her suffer wouldn't have changed anything, but I probably _would_ get a little satisfaction out of it. "What angered me the most was your reasoning. But," I say with a sigh, "I forgave Sunset for ruining my life and I forgave Juniper for trapping us in her mirror." Who was _also_ more justified than Wallflower. I hold out my hand. "I accept your apology."

"You do?!" she says, surprised. She slowly reaches for my hand.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be your friend. All this means is I don't hold a grudge against you anymore."

She grabs my hand. "Hey, I'll take it! I can finally sleep at night knowing you won't kill me if you see me."

* * *

We get to the front of the line. The security guard runs her metal detector wand up and down Flare, then puts a wristband on him and scans it. She does the same for me, and like at the Cheese concert my fake leg doesn't set off the wand. We join the others. Sunset and Pinkie aren't here yet.

"We're waiting for Sunset _again,"_ Flare says.

"Their line _was_ moving pretty slowly," Rainbow says.

"Security checks, am I right?" I jokingly say.

"I saw you made up with Wallflower Blush," Twilight says to me.

"Yup. We're not friends, but I don't hate her anymore."

"One step at a time, right?" Fluttershy says.

Wallflower walks through the security gate. "One step at a time." I wave at her, and she waves back.

A minute later, Sunset and Pinkie enter the festival and walk over to us.

"Y'all have fun seein' PostCrush," Applejack says to them. "We'll see ya back at camp tonight."

I look at Flare and hold my hand out to him. "Shall we?"

He takes my hand in his. "We shall."

* * *

After roaming around the festival for a while, it's time for the first act: Weez. I saw some rumors online that a certain comedian might be making an appearance during their show. No word on who it might be, but I have a hunch. Even if they're not true, the band is pretty good. I've heard like 20 of their songs, so I'm not unfamiliar with them. We're somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

The band takes the stage and everyone cheers. They start with "My Name Is Wepeel", followed by a few songs I'm not familiar with and several more I _do_ know.

"You've been a rockin' crowd today!" the frontman says about 40 or so minutes into the set. I should probably look up what his name is so I don't have to call him 'Weez's lead singer' all the time. "I think you all deserve a special treat! We're gonna take you... on a distant voyage." Oh, I think I know what's next! Sounds like everyone else does, too. "It's time... to bless the rains." This is the loudest the crowd's been all night.

They start playing. I'm not sure which I like better, this cover or the original.

_"We're gonna take the time to do the things we never_  
_Haaaaaaave~"_

I mean, it's not the _best_ song from either band, but it's up there.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Cheese Sandwich!" No way!

Walking onto the stage, sure enough, is the man himself, accordion in hand!

Oh my gosh! I shut my eyes and let out a loud squeal. The rumors were true! _"Woooooo!"_ Yes, yes, _yes!_ He plays the keyboard solo on his accordion. Okay, I don't care _how_ much fun Sunset and Pinkie have at the PostCrush concert. _Nothing_ beats a... somewhat... surprise appearance from Cheese!

_"Hurry, boy, she's waiting there for you"_

So... _awesome!_ As the last chorus begins, I _finally_ stop yelling. The song finishes, and everyone is cheering. I can barely hear _myself_ yelling again!

"Thank you, Starswirl! Enjoy the rest of the festival! Let's have another round of applause for Cheese Sandwich!"

Oh, man! I wonder if I can get a chant going.

"Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!"

I hear Flare join in, then a few people around us, and within seconds the entire audience is chanting. Cheese waves to everyone, and they let out another loud cheer. Best. Festival concert. Ever!

* * *

"That was amazing!" I say, voice a little raspy. "I can't believe the rumors were true!"

"I wonder _how_ people found out," Flare says.

I look at him. "Maybe someone in charge of the festival let it slip to one of their friends."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. At least they were smart enough to just say 'a comedian'."

"I guess if you're vague enough, you can't get in trouble for breaking an NDA." If there was one in the first place.

"Step right up!" A voice to our left gets my attention. "Don't be shy!" A couple men have a booth set up of some sort.

"You want prizes?" the man on the right says. "We got prizes!"

I look at Flare. "Eh, why not?" We walk over to the booth. Both men are wearing white pants, blue-and-white striped shirts, and a black bow tie. They have red hair with yellow highlights, and the one on the right has a mustache.

"Throw this softball," the man on the left says, holding a ball, "at these milk bottles to knock 'em down! Easy as pie!" He throws it at the bottles, knocking them over with ease.

I'm _pretty_ sure it's not that easy. "That _does_ look easy!"

"Liv, are you _sure_ you want to do this?" Flare asks.

"Like I said, why not? Seems easy enough."

"Sure, it _seems_ easy enough, but remember what Twilight and Sunset said happened at the amusement park?"

"That was the ring toss game. The most rigged carnival game in existence. This is knocking over a few bottles!" I lean toward him. "I know it's rigged. Let's agree to a limit," I whisper. "If neither of us gets it in three tries, we walk. Maybe we'll get lucky, maybe we won't. I'm not letting either of us spend all our money on this game."

"Got it." He looks at the men. "Okay, my girlfriend has convinced me. We'll give it a whirl."

"Excellent!"

"Wonderful!"

I hand them a dollar. "Ladies first," I say. The man on the left takes it and gives me a ball, and the other man sets up the bottles.

I take aim at the center and throw. It knocks the top bottle off, but the bottom two barely move.

None of my other two throws nor Flare's three are able to do much better. My third throw missed the bottles completely!

Staying true to our limit, we walk away after that. The duo tries to coax us into giving it another try, but we're not _that_ foolish.

* * *

We exit the Neon Garden.

"Man, I was _not_ expecting that to be a maze," I say.

"Yeah, but once we figured _that_ out, it was easy to get through."

"Follow the left wall. How did you know to do that?"

"It was the only thing I remember from those old Mickey Dee's cartoons on DVD." In a deeper voice, he says, "'It's not hard to understand. Find the door with your left hand.'"

I feel like I've seen commercials for those. "What was that, a riddle episode?"

"Pretty much. They were trapped in a creepy mansion, and some floating head kept giving them riddles to solve."

Music starts playing nearby. I look in that direction. There's a large blue stage set up, with a cloud of green smoke obscuring whoever's on it.

_"Where do we go? Every day's the same"_

"I don't remember seeing anyone on the schedule for this area today," Flare says.

"Late addition?" I say.

_"So ordinary, stuck on repeat"_

"Hang on..." Flare says. "Those singers sound familiar..."

We walk over to the crowd. The smoke starts to clear from the stage, and now we can see who's performing.

"The Dazzlings?" Man, it's been a while since I've seen _them._

"Okay... How? They lost their voices when our friends destroyed their pendants!"

Huh? "What do you... Oh, right. _Those_ Dazzlings." I forgot about the sirens.

He looks at me, confused. "What other Dazzlings _are_ there?"

"The ones from Crystal Prep? I told you about them after the Friendship Games."

"Uh... You did?"

"I... You..." What, was he _that_ distracted by Princess Twilight showing up immediately after? I remove my glasses and facepalm. "Yes... It was right before Princess Twilight showed up." I put them back on. "I thought you were talking about _those_ Dazzlings, not _these_ Dazzlings."

"I..." He pauses. "I honestly don't remember that. Maybe it's because I see Sonata at work every Tuesday for the past year."

"How do you know which Sonata it is?"

"She always says hi to me, and we talked a couple weeks before you and I visited Equestria. It's siren Sonata."

The lyrics to their song seem to imply they're tired of spending day after day in this world. I guess when you spend centuries living in a world that's very different from your own, it can become tiresome.

After they're finished singing, Adagio lets out an annoyed sigh and says, "That song's called... 'Find the Magic'." She holds the mic out and says something else, then drops it. All three walk off-stage.

"Kinda odd they would perform at a festival called Starswirl," Flare says.

"It is?"

"I didn't tell you?"

"Starlight told us about the Pillars of Equestria, but _you_ didn't say anything about them." Unless there's _another_ Starswirl?

"Well, Starswirl the Bearded and the other Pillars are why the sirens are in this world in the first place. Lured them toward a portal, flew out of the way at the last second, sirens kept on going."

_That's_ how they did it? "Wow... Way to take the easy way out, guys. You're giving the Order of the Stone a run for their money with _that_ one." Well, the Pillars weren't _that_ cheap. "Yeah, I don't see why the sirens would perform here."

The trio walk past a security guard, who ropes off the exit behind them.

"Maybe we could ask them tomorrow if they're still here."

Our backstage passes are only valid tomorrow. "I doubt they'll want anything to do with you."

"Sonata would, and I bet she could annoy Aria enough to make her give in."

"Worth a try, I guess." We start walking away from the stage. Now that I think about it, there's one thing about his encounter with the sirens I don't understand. "So why _did_ you tell them what you were going through? They could've hopped on the bullying bandwagon."

"I... don't really know. I guess I was hoping they'd be different than everyone else since they were new to CHS. Kinda like when you gave me a chance."

That day... "I'm _so_ glad I did."

"Me, too." He kisses me.

If I hadn't accepted his offer, I'd be in Manehattan right now. I wonder if I would've been as happy. Would I have met a guy as great as Flare? Would I have shut everyone out to avoid a repeat of CHS? I mean, I kinda did that at Crystal Prep, but that was because the students wanted nothing to do with an ex-Wondercolt. I ask myself this a lot. It was such a life-changing decision, I can't help but think about what could've been.

* * *

With the first day of the festival over, all of us are sitting outside the RV roasting marshmallows, sans Sunset and Pinkie. They're busy having the time of their lives at the PostCrush concert. Maybe I should've gone with them. I'd kinda like to know if their reactions were like mine when I was at the Cheese Sandwich concert last year.

"There they are!" Rainbow says. Sunset and Pinkie are back. "Two peas in a pod! How was it? Rad-tacular? Amaze-magic?!"

By the looks on their faces, I'd say... no? Sunset looks annoyed and Pinkie looks upset. Sunset's annoyed sigh backs that up.

"Did something happen?" Flare asks.

"We missed PostCrush," Sunset says. _"Someone_ wanted to win a bike! Then got us lost in a maze, covered in paint, sidelined by churros, and finally _kicked out!"_ She angrily looks at Pinkie.

I mean, all of those things sound very Pinkie Pie-esque. Except the last one. Did Sunset _really_ not know what she was getting into? While I don't expect to be sidelined by churros when I hang out with Pinkie, I know how easily distracted she gets, and I expect a _little_ sidetracking.

"I'm really sorry," Pinkie says, putting a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "I wish we could do the day all over again. I'd do it different."

Sunset brushes her off. "Me, too..." She turns around and starts walking away. "I'd do it alone..." she mutters.

Man, I would _hate_ to be in her shoes. If someone made me miss Cheese Sandwich, I'd be livid!

* * *

After a while, Sunset returns. Flare and I are still outside, while the others are in the RV.

"Hey, Sunset?" Flare says. "I can try to get you back into the festival if you want."

"Yeah, okay," she says, unconvinced. "What are you gonna do, superglue our wristbands back together?"

"I mean, that's _one_ thing." He shows her his ring, which has his geode on. "I can use my siren power to convince the security guards to let you two in."

"Right, I forgot you can do that."

"I'm not surprised. I've only tried using it three times."

"Not counting all the times he tested it on _me,"_ I say. It's surprisingly effective. You lose focus for a few seconds and his suggestion is planted in your head. You can't ignore it no matter how hard you try.

"I appreciate it," she says, "but I don't want to get _you_ kicked out."

"I'll be fine," he says. "It's not like the guards will stop me from entering because I started singing at a music festival."

"Well..."

"Just let me do it, Sunshim. You girls said you'd let me use my power to help next time."

"Yeah, when it's an emergency."

"This _is_ an emergency! A fun emergency! You don't deserve to have your festival experience ruined by Pinkie being Pinkie."

Wow, okay! Of course you'd say Pinkie's the problem when you used to date the other person!

"I'll... give it some thought. I'll let you know tomorrow morning."

Good thing Pinkie's not within earshot.


	2. Día Uno

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone.

"Flare?" Sunset gets my boyfriend's attention. Guess she just walked out of the RV.

"Morning, Sunset," he says. "Ready for the festival?"

"About that... I thought about what you said last night. And... I have to decline."

"Huh?"

"Again, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't feel comfortable with you doing something like that." The hell is she talking about?

"Um... No problem?" he says, confused.

She walks back toward the RV.

"What did you ask her last night?" I whisper.

"Nothing. I have no idea what she's talking about. You were with me the entire time, remember?"

Rainbow runs by. "Starswirl day one!" she yells. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement and whacks Sunset in the butt with.

"Yeah," I say, "but maybe you said something when I wasn't around."

"Sure, I _talked_ with her, but I didn't offer to do... whatever she thinks I said I'd do."

* * *

After a change of clothes for Applejack, we start walking to the festival gate. The anticipation is almost unbearable! My first music festival!

"Whoa!" Sunset yells. I look behind me. She has her hands on Flare's back.

"Easy there, Sunset," he says with a chuckle. "I know you still have feelings for me, but you gotta control yourself!" I can tell he's joking around.

"Uh... Right..."

I look at Sunset's shoes. One of them has mud on it, and there's a mud puddle next to her.

"Sunset, Sunset!" Pinkie yells. "Look! So many lines to stand in. This day's already amazing!" She sprints to the entrance. Pinkie might be the only person on the planet who likes standing in lines.

We start walking, but Flare stops and looks back to Sunset. "You okay, Sunset?"

"I'm... not sure."

"You certainly don't _sound_ sure," I say.

"Maybe when we get inside, you'll feel better," Flare says.

We get in the center line, joining Pinkie and Rainbow.

"You come to this line often?" Pinkie says to the next person. "Any other sweet lines we should hit up?"

"What's going on?" Sunset says, confused.

"You said it, Sunset," Rainbow says. She yells to the security guard, "What's with these long lines, man?!"

The guard, who's using his metal detector wand on an elderly woman, looks at Rainbow. "Security is an art. It can't be rushed."

The second sentence is said by Sunset at the same time.

"I mean, he's not wrong," Flare says. "Guest safety is top priority for _any_ event. If that means it takes a little longer to get people in, so be it."

Rainbow looks at me. "Your prosthesis is metal, right? Are you gonna have to take it off to get in?"

"Oddly enough, it doesn't set off metal detectors," I say, "or at least the handheld ones."

* * *

Inside, Sunset is looking curiously at her wristband as we meet up with the others.

"Y'all have fun seein' PostCrush," Applejack says to them. "We'll see ya back at camp tonight." The others head off.

"What do you wanna do first, Sunset?" Pinkie says. "There's so much we would do! Liiiiiike..." She moves Sunset's head to the left. "...win a tandem bicycle!?" Nearby is a stand with a 2-seat bicycle next to it. "All I have to do is guess how many candies are in the jar!" She runs over to the stand. She didn't have a plan when we got here?

"Anyone else having _serious_ déjà vu?" Sunset asks.

"Not really," Flare says.

"Unless you count Pinkie being Pinkie," I say.

Sunset starts walking toward Pinkie. "I don't know how to explain it, but... I did all of this yesterday!"

"We were at school yesterday," Flare says.

"And we didn't even _enter_ the festival when we got here," I say.

Sunset stops. "Pinkie Pie?" And just like that, she's disappeared. "I know where she's headed." With Pinkie, how _can_ you know?

* * *

We exit the Neon Garden. Pinkie ran into there, we started to set a trap for her, and she found us just as we finished setting it up.

"Pinkie, focus!" Sunset says. "If you keep running off like this, we'll be late for the concert!"

"Isn't the concert, like, 5 hours away?" I ask.

A voice to the right gets my attention. "Who wants to be part of an art show~?" It's some guy holding two water balloons.

"Ooh ooh ooh! I do, I do!" Pinkie yells excitedly. Geez, I keep forgetting how short Pinkie's attention span is.

He looks at us, then throws the balloons toward us. Welp...

Sunset and Pinkie yell, and I hold my arms down in front of me to try to keep from getting _too_ wet, shutting my eyes as well. The balloons pop and I feel something that's not water get on me. I open my eyes, and I'm greeted by a wall of yellow on my glasses. I take them off and look down. Those weren't water balloons. They were paint balloons, and now I have splotches of paint on my clothes, exposed skin, and glasses.

I groan. "This is gonna be a _nightmare_ to wash out..."

* * *

In the restroom, all of us except Flare – who's over in the men's room – start rubbing the paint off. Pinkie's in one of the stalls, while Sunset and myself are at the sink.

"Y'know," I say, "you could've _warned_ us if this happened before. I didn't pack an extra set of clothing." Well, I _do_ have a Cheese Sandwich shirt I always keep with me, but I'd rather not wear it to a music festival if he isn't one of the acts. That and a DragonHearts shirt looks more fitting when tied in a way that exposes my midriff than a Cheese shirt. Flare really likes that. I guess it's good that the paint easily washes off.

Pinkie starts laughing.

"Pinkie Pie just splattered paint and it looks _exactly_ like Rarity with a pirate mustache," Sunset says flatly. "How's that?"

"That's oddly specific," I say. Let's see if she's right.

Pinkie opens the stall door. On it is... paint that looks _exactly_ like Rarity with a pirate mustache. "Hee hee!"

I shrug. "Alright, then. Guess you _did_ do this before." With all the craziness that's happened over the past 12 months, something like this doesn't surprise me as much anymore. But now the question is _why_ is she reliving this day?

My phone buzzes. I check it. A post from Cheese Sandwich's Snapgab page. I look at the post. In it is a video.

_"We're gonna take the time to do the things we never_

_Haaaaaaave~"_

It looks like this was from the Weez show, and they're doing their cover of "Bless the Rains". Welp, guess I missed that.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Cheese Sandwich!"_

"Wait, what?"

Sure enough, Cheese Sandwich walks onto the stage, playing the accordion during the keyboard solo.

"The rumors were true? And I _missed_ it?!"

"Well, there's always tomorrow," Sunset says.

The day is repeating for Sunset... "Yeah, I guess. _And_ I'll completely forget Flare made me miss my favorite performer by dragging me along with you." I sigh. "Might as well tag along with you two for the rest of the day. Nothing else worth seeing, anyway..."

* * *

The sun has set, and all four of us are sitting at a table under an umbrella.

"I really wish Twilight was here," Sunset says. "She'd probably have some scientific explanation for all this."

"Well, I'm not Twilight," I say, "nor is this very scientific, but your situation reminds me of that movie 'Weenusk Day'. A weatherman keeps waking up and reliving the same day over and over, and no matter what he does, he can't break the time loop. The only way he managed to end the torment was by not being a jackass." Although Sunset's done an outstanding job not being a total bitch anymore, so it's probably not that.

"Time loop..."

"Time loop!" Pinkie says. "Classic Sunset!"

"Actually, that's more of a classic _Twilight,"_ Flare says. "I remember the other Twilight saying she was stuck in a time loop after the Friendship Games." Oh right, I remember that now. Maybe _she_ knows how to break the loop.

"But why only _me?"_ Sunset asks. "The only time I was alone was on the hill when I wished –"

"For more wishes?" Pinkie says. "Solid choice!"

"Pretty sure that's the one thing you _can't_ wish for," I say.

Sunset puts her hands on her head. "This might sound crazy..."

"Crazier than saying you're stuck in a time loop?" Flare asks.

"I think Equestrian magic is giving me another chance to see PostCrush!"

Uh... What? "I... don't know how that would work."

"Eh, would've sounded crazy a year and a half ago," Flare says.

"Eh, seen crazier," Pinkie says.

Am I the only one who has a problem with that story? That explanation is a little _too_ convenient.

"Wait! Why didn't you see PostCrush?"

"Mistakes were made. _And_ Flare asked if I'd let him use his siren power to get me back into the festival."

"Oh, _that's_ what you were talking about," Flare says. "Would I _really_ have done that, though? I said I'd only use my powers in an emergency."

"You said it was a 'fun emergency'."

A... fun emergency? What _exactly_ happened yesterday?

"Aww, don't beat yourself up!" Pinkie says. "I promise we'll see them together tonight, or so help me I –" She stops. "What's that smell?" She sniffs around. "Could it be?" Pinkie gasps. "Pop Pastries' exclusive star-crusted cinnamon-dipped churros!" Yeah, there's a churro stand nearby. "Now's _probably_ not the best time to go get one." Sunset is glaring at Pinkie.

"It's not! Let's get moving, so nothing goes wrong for PostCrush." Sunset takes off for the stage, and Flare and I follow.

"On the other hand," I hear Pinkie say, "if I get _two,_ then Sunset can have one with me! No, no! I will _not_ give in!"

I stop. "She's gonna go over to the stand," I quietly tell Flare. "Five, four, three, two..."

"I can't resist!"

There she goes. "One."

I turn around. Pinkie is rushing the stand.

"Okay," Sunset says, _"this_ is the worst possible time for churros!" She takes off after her and manages to get in front, stopping in front of the stand. "Pinkie, stop!"

Pinkie doesn't stop, crashing into Sunset and the stand.

"I guess tomorrow is another day?" Flare says to me. Tomorrow is another day...

I just got an idea. If today is going to repeat for Sunset again, and everything will reset to how it was this morning, that means nothing we do tonight will matter. No consequences for our actions. That said, this is only the first loop. Maybe it won't happen again. If I'm wrong, my idea could be a huge mistake. Neither of us are ready, but I refuse to get rid of it. On the other hand, that mistake could convince Dad to change his mind!

No... No way. I'm not taking the chance. If this was, like, the _tenth_ loop with no end in sight, I'd go for it.

Man, if _anyone_ deserves to relive the same day over and over, it's me.


	3. Jour Un

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone.

"Starswirl day one!" I hear Rainbow yell. I open one eye and look in that direction. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement and whacks Sunset in the butt with – who must've just walked out of the RV.

I separate from Flare. "Sunset's awake."

Sunset is... happy about that? "Thank you! Oww! Thank you..."

"Oops!" Rainbow says to Sunset with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."

Sunset still looks really happy.

"Does Sunset have a spanking fetish?" I quietly ask Flare.

"Nah, I think she's _really_ excited to see PostCrush. Why did your mind go to _that?"_

"I mean, Rainbow hit her in the ass with that oar thing and she excitedly said 'Thank you'. It's a natural conclusion."

"What do you call a PostCrush fan with three eyes?" Pinkie sounds excited. "Pinkie Pi–!"

Sunset covers Pinkie's mouth. "No time for jokes. I'm gonna... head out on my own today." She runs off. "Laters!" That's a little odd...

"You okay?" Twilight yells.

"Keep Pinkie Pie busy. Thanks!" And she's gone.

"But..." Fluttershy says, "weren't you supposed to see PostCrush together?"

This day is getting off to a weird start.

* * *

We walk through the gates. Sunset is in the distance looking at a map.

"Sunset!" Pinkie yells. Sunset immediately takes off. "Hey! Wait up!" Pinkie gives chase.

"Was she ever like this when you two were dating?" Twilight asks Flare.

"No... I've never seen her act like this before."

"It seems like she's trying to ditch Pinkie," I say. "But why?"

* * *

Sunset finally returns to the RV.

"Huh," Rainbow says. _"There_ she is. Lone wolf!" She howls. I wonder if that translates to anything for Fluttershy.

Sunset happily sighs. Well, it's nice to see _somebody_ had a good time.

"Pinkie Pie's been actin' mighty strange this evening," Applejack says. "Any idea what mighta happened to her?"

Sunset looks surprised for a second. "We... lost track of each other."

"Me?" Pinkie says from behind Sunset. "Lose track of Sunset? Ha! But she's been right here the whole time, right, actual Sunset Shimmer?" She grabs a dummy that looks like Sunset, made up of what seems to be anything she could find in the bathroom. "'Right, Pinkie Pie! By the way, your roasting technique is _flawless!'_ Aha! Thanks!" I've never seen someone go crazy like that before.

"How was the _show?"_ Rarity says.

"It was... perfect!"

Rarity scoffs. "I was being judgmental, darling," she says flatly. "What is the point of throwing shade if there's no one there to catch it..."

Sunset shrugs. "Sorry. Too blissed out from the show to care right now! Talk tomorrow?" She winks, then walks around the RV.

Wow, you are kidding me... "Nice to see the _old_ Sunset Shimmer is still in there!" I yell. "The one who _only_ thinks about herself!" I stand up. "I guess I was right! Once a selfish bitch, _always_ a selfish bitch!"

"I mean..." Flare starts to say. "Maybe our Sunset got switched with this world's Sunset? I don't understand what brought this on all of a sudden." He stands up. "I'm gonna try to have a word with her." He follows Sunset.

Well, this is gonna make my parents' decision a lot more appealing. It looks like Wallflower was right after all. To think I believed she changed...

* * *

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone..

"Starswirl day one!" I hear Rainbow yell. I open one eye and look in that direction. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement and whacks Sunset in the butt with – who must've just walked out of the RV.

I separate from Flare. "Sunset's awake."

"Oops!" Rainbow says to Sunset. "Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."

"Talk about a pain in the rear," I say.

Sunset walks over to us and we stand up. "Hey, you two."

"Morning, Sunset," Flare says.

"Sleep well?" I ask.

Without saying a word, she puts her hands on Flare's shoulders.

"Uh, Suns–mmm?!" Sunset plants her lips on Flare's. The hell?!

Within seconds, Flare shoves her off of him.

"What the hell was _that_ about?!" he says.

"I wanted to see if your kissing skills improved," she says with a smile.

"So you kiss him in front of his _girlfriend?!"_ I angrily yell.

"Ehh," she says with a shrug. "You think I should kiss him when he's alone?"

"You fucking bitch!" I slap her as hard as I can. "That was one hell of an act you put on, Shimmer. Looks like Wallflower was right after all." I grab Flare's wrist. "Come with me," I say to him. I drag him around the RV and through the doorway.

"Liv?"

I slam the door shut and lock it. "I gotta admit, she was _very_ convincing. But now that she's shown her true colors, I'm done. I'm staying as far away from her as possible." I sit down.

"Y-You're in good hands with our other friends," he stammers. "You don't have to lock yourself in the RV."

"They're gonna be just as apologetic as you're being." I attempt to impersonate each girl. "'Chillax, Olivia!' _'Daaaarling,_ you're being uncouth!' 'Now hold yer horses thar, sugah-cube!'" Usually I like his 'thinking about the positives' attitude, but now is _really_ not the time for it. "I gave her one chance. It took over a year, but she blew it!" I owe him an ass-kicking, too. I haven't forgotten what I told him at the Friendship Games.

"Liv, honey, you're overreacting. I'm sure Sunset had a good reason for what she did. Remember Trixie?"

"Gilda's not a problem anymore. _You_ made sure of that."

"I mean, not necessarily _Gilda._ Maybe Sunset's being blackmailed by somebody."

By who, Diamond Tiara? "Just... shut up. I know what you're doing, and it's not gonna work. I never want to see her again, and _nothing_ will change my mind. End of discussion."

"Come on, Liv –"

"End. Of. Discussion."

I might even give into what my dad wants.


	4. Tag eins

A sudden noise wakes me up. "Mmm, wha..." There's a slight vibration and what my mostly-asleep mind thinks is an engine sound.

"Are we moving?" I hear Flare ask.

I feel him get out of our sleeping bag. I open my eyes and look up. He's holding out his hand toward me. I take my glasses out of the case and put them on, then grab Flare's hand as he pulls me to my foot. He puts my right arm around the back of his neck to help me stay balanced.

"Who's driving?"

Twilight runs over to the driver's seat. "Sunset! Slow down!" Why is Sunset driving?

Flare and I get into a couple seats and put on our seatbelts just as the RV takes a few sudden turns.

"I gotta break out of here somehow!" I hear Sunset say. "Maybe if I get far enough away from the campgrounds, it'll finally end!"

Pinkie opens the curtain. "What... are you... _talking about?!"_

"This is all _your_ fault!"

"What the hell did _Pinkie_ do?" I ask.

The RV hits a big bump in the road, then slows to a stop.

* * *

Outside, Sunset explains to us that she's been experiencing the first day of the festival over and over. She thought by getting far enough away from the festival, she could escape the loop.

"Sorry to hijack the RV while you were all sleeping, but I've tried everything! Every time I leave, the RV breaks down at the exact same spot!"

"Hmm..." I say. "Your situation reminds me of that movie 'Weenusk Day'. A weatherman keeps waking up and reliving the same day over and over, and"

"no matter what he does," Sunset says at the same time, "he can't break the... time loop. You've seen that movie? Okay, you can stop now." This is kinda creeping me out. "Stop! _Stop!"_ Maybe _I_ should stop.

"How many times have you relived this day?" Flare asks.

"Oh, what was it... 17? Sounds about right." She sighs. "This time loop started because I missed PostCrush. Why didn't it end when I saw them?"

Twilight crosses her arms. "You think it's only about _PostCrush?"_ She glances back to Pinkie.

"I probably ask you this _every_ day," Pinkie says, "but what did Princess Twilight say when you told _her_ about this?" Oh yeah. What _did_ the princess say?

Sunset's eyes go wide. "The journal! Of course! How did I not try that weeks ago?!"

Yeah... Good question. How _didn't_ you try that? Could've saved yourself a lot of suffering. And did Pinkie _not_ ask that all the other times?

Pinkie laughs. "Seriously, though, why _didn't_ you?!" Exactly! She sits next to Sunset. "Are you asking yourself, 'Self, how'd I spend 17 days with my best friend Pinkie Pie without asking for help until _now?'"_

_"Still_ think this is only about PostCrush?" Twilight asks, arms still crossed.

It _does_ sound like she wanted to do things _her_ way and nobody else's. It sorta reminds me of her old self. I guess bad habits are hard to break.

"Bad news," Applejack says. "Transmission's shot. Repairs ain't gonna be be cheap. Tow truck says he'll need cash tomorrow."

Rainbow yawns.

"Tomorrow?" Sunset says flatly. "Sure," she says sarcastically. "Tell him I'll give him a _million bucks_ if I see him."

* * *

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone..

"Starswirl day one!" I hear Rainbow yell. I open one eye and look in that direction. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement and whacks Sunset in the butt with – who must've just walked out of the RV.

I separate from Flare. "Sunset's awake."

"Oops!" Rainbow says to Sunset with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."

"No, Rainbow Dash, you _won't!_ Every day, you say that, but you _never_ are! Why won't you change?!"

Um... What?

"O...kay..." Rainbow nervously backs away.

"Where did _that_ come from?" Flare whispers to me.

"What do you call a PostCrush fan with three eyes?" Pinkie asks the others. "Pinkie Pie!"

I see what she did there, but I'm more concerned about Sunset right now.

* * *

"That was amazing!" I say, voice a little raspy. "I can't believe the rumors were true!"

"I wonder _how_ people found out," Flare says.

I look at him. "Maybe someone in charge of the festival let it slip to one of their friends."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. At least they were smart enough to just say 'a comedian'."

"I guess if you're vague enough, you can't get in trouble for breaking an NDA." If there was one in the first place.

"Hey, there's Sunset and Pinkie."

I look left. Sunset and Pinkie are sitting under a tented area. There's a book on their table.

We walk over to them. "Hi, girls," I say.

They look at us. "Hiya, lovebirds!" Pinkie says.

"What'cha reading?"

"I'm waiting for Princess Twilight to write back," Sunset says. "I've been stuck in a time loop, repeating the first day of the festival over and over. Pinkie told me yesterday to ask the princess if she knows anything."

Time loop... Really? What is this, 'Weenusk Day'?

"I guess that explains the attitude this morning," Flare says. "Well, if anyone knows how to break a time loop, it's Twilight. I remember she said she was stuck in one after the Friendship Games."

"Oh, that's right! You said the same thing on the _first_ repeat!"

"Really? And you waited until the... uh..."

"18th day."

What?! "18 days!? Flarey talked about the princess on day two, and it's only _now_ you write to her?!" How the...

"Uh... Yeah, what she said," Flare says. He whispers to me, "Aren't _I_ the one who complains about things that don't make sense?"

"This makes _way_ less sense than Midnight Sparkle opening small portals or a bright white room with no visible light source."

_"Does_ it?"

"Of _course_ it does! Sunset's been suffering for nearly 3 weeks when she could've solved this whole thing in less than one!"

The book starts glowing and vibrating, then opens. Sunset begins reading.

"Sunset, I've been doing some research, and it looks like you found another long-lost Equestrian artifact."

_"Another_ one?" Flare says. "How do they keep ending up here? Is this world a trash can ponies throw their unwanted junk into?"

I guess she _is_ stuck in a time loop.

"The Time Twirler."

* * *

With the sun going down, all of us are together, being on the lookout for anyone who might be using the Time Twirler.

"I couldn't imagine reliving the same day again and again," I say to Flare. I wouldn't be opposed to it, though.

"Me neither. But why is _Sunset_ the only one unaffected? Is it because she's from Equestria?"

"That wouldn't make sense. An Equestrian artifact not having an effect on someone _from_ Equestria?"

"Well, maybe it only affects everything that originated from the universe it's used in."

I shrug my shoulders. "Who knows? Besides, it's not like we'll remember all this if we don't find who's using it."

Hmm... I just got an idea. If Sunset fails to find the Time Twirler, today is going to repeat, and everything will reset to how it was this morning, meaning nothing we do tonight will matter. No consequences for our actions. With this being the 18th loop, I'm confident my idea won't backfire.

Sunset stops walking. "How could I? Every day is the same!"

_"Every day's the same"_

Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops walk past us, holding hands and singing.

Wait, were they singing what I think they were singing?

"Wait, what was that?" Sunset says.

Another person runs past us.

_"'Round and 'round and 'round..."_

Sunset runs over to him. "Hey! What are you listening to?" She yanks out one of his earbuds and listens to it. He points to a nearby stage with a green cloud of smoke covering part of it.

_"So ordinary, stuck on repeat"_

"I think we've got a clue," Sunset says.

"That voice sounds familiar," Flare says. We run over to the stage. Performing on the stage are three women. It only takes a second for me to recognize them.

The others gasp.

"They must be a last-minute addition!" Pinkie says.

"But they lost their voices!" Rainbow says. "They gotta be using magic!"

"That or vocal processing," Applejack says.

"They _wouldn't!_ Wait, what am I talking about? Of _course_ they would!"

"They _could_ be the ones from Crystal Prep," I say.

"What do you mean the ones from Crystal Prep?" Flare asks.

Are you... How did you...

"Who are you talking about?!" Sunset says, getting in front of us.

On-stage are, indeed, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk: The Dazzlings.

"The Dazzlings are back?!"

Flare and the girls told me about these three: How they convinced him to join them, what they did in Equestria, and how they lost their singing voices. They _could_ be the Dazzlings from this world, something it seems Flare forgot. That said, one of the lines in this song is "Let's find the magic".

After they're finished singing, Adagio lets out an annoyed sigh and says, "That song's called... 'Find the Magic'." She holds the mic out and says something else, then drops it. All three walk off-stage.

"Seriously?" Sunset says.

"The chord progression is kinda samey-samey," Rarity says.

_"And_ the Dazzlings are behind the time loop."

_"Are_ they, though?" Flare says. "Just because they can somehow sing again doesn't mean they're using the Time Twirler."

The trio walk past a security guard, who ropes off the exit behind them.

"New mission!" Sunset says. "We _have_ to get backstage!"

"Our backstage passes are only good for day _two,"_ Twilight says, "and you're _not_ a VIP."

"If the Dazzlings are still here tomorrow," Flare whispers to me, "and if this _is_ the final loop, let's go have a chat with them."

"You sure?" I whisper back. "I doubt they'll want anything to do with you." If they're the sirens.

"Sonata would, and I bet she could annoy Aria enough to make her give in."

"The weak shall _crumble_ before me!" Pinkie says, determined, as she walks toward the guard. "I got this!"

"Wait!" Sunset grabs her wrist to stop her. "If you want to help, let me come up with a plan." She lets go, and Pinkie immediately resumes walking. "No distractions, no detours, no... walking off while I'm talking to you." All of us walk over to her.

While we wait for Pinkie to do her thing, I might as well tell Flare what I was thinking about earlier. "Flarey?" I whisper.

"Yeah?"

"So, um... I have a... crazy idea. If we can't find who's using the Time Twirler today, there's something I want to try."

"O...kay..."

"I was thinking... If the day gets reset again, can we have sex?"

"That's not a crazy idea. We have sex all the time."

"That's not the crazy part. I..." If there are no consequences... "I want to do it _without_ protection."

"Without..." he whispers a little louder. "Are you..."

"If the day is gonna repeat and nothing we do will matter, why not take advantage of it?" With a sultry expression, I finish, "You, me, and nothing in-between."

"I... I guess there _would_ be zero risk of pregnancy."

"Tuxedo!" the guard yells. "Ask me her name! _See what happens!"_

What the _hell_ has Pinkie been saying to him?

"What was her –"

* * *

Thanks to... whatever Pinkie did... all of us have been kicked out of the festival.

"Oh... Guess I _don't_ got this..."

If the day wasn't gonna repeat, I'd be _pretty_ mad.

_"You_ don't," Sunset says, "but together, _we_ do! For a time looper, today's failure is tomorrow's success!"

Suddenly, Flare pulls me into a kiss, putting his hands on my waist and slowly moving them down to my hips. He wants to do this _now?_ Shouldn't we wait until we're back at the RV? Eh, I guess if we're gonna do it when nothing will matter, we can do it _anywhere._ I close my eyes, wrap my arms behind his neck, and press my tongue against his lips.

* * *

The trio walk past a security guard, who ropes off the exit behind them.

"Maybe we could ask them tomorrow if they're still here," Flare says.

"I doubt they'll want anything to do with you," I say.

"Sonata would, and I bet she could annoy Aria enough to make her give in."

"Worth a try, I guess."

The guard is looking at... something, based on his surprised expression. I look that way. Sunset is carrying a basket with a cat in it, and Pinkie is skipping behind her.

"That's peculiar..."

"What?" Flare looks at Sunset, then the guard. "Are... Are they gonna try to bribe the guard with a cat?"

"Maybe? Why, though? They didn't even _see_ the Dazzlings, and those three aren't on the schedule. How would they know the girls are here?"

"And why would they want to talk?"

They reach the guard, and he picks up the cat. We walk over to them.

"If you spend all your time keeping people out," Sunset says to the guard, "how are you ever gonna let anybody in? To your heart."

"Um..." Huh...

Pinkie looks at us and gives a big smile.

The guard unhooks the rope. "Go ahead and go backstage, all four of yas!" That... worked?!

"Really?" What Pinkie said. "Wow, thanks!"

We enter the backstage area.

"Great idea, Sunset!" Pinkie says.

"We came up with it together."

"Think you can fill us in on what's going on?" Flare asks.

"Short version: I'm stuck in a time loop, I suspect the Dazzlings have the Time Twirler, the guard is a cat person."

Uh... "I'm sorry, time what?"

The door to the van in front of us makes a noise. Guess it's time to hide. We run around the right side and hide behind the equipment cases.

"Ooh! That was our best show yet!" one of the girls says. I think that was Sonata.

"The loop is _really_ working," another says.

"Of _course_ it's working," the third says. "It was _my_ idea!" Okay, _that's_ Adagio. So the other is Aria.

"I _knew_ it!" Sunset whispers. "I bet they're hiding the Time Twirler somewhere in their tour bus."

"Nice thinking!" Pinkie whispers. She peeks over the case. "Also, looks more like a tour _van_ to me." Also, what's a 'Time Twirler'?

I hear the door close, and Sunset pushes Pinkie down and out of view. Once the Dazzlings' backs are to us, we stand up and approach the van. Not the most attractive vehicle to be touring in, if I'm being honest.

Sunset opens the door and steps inside. "Flare and Olivia, help me look. Pinkie, stay here and stand guard. If you see _anyone_ coming, sound the alarm." Flare and I join Sunset and she closes the door.

"You got it!" Pinkie says from outside.

"So how about the longer version?" Flare says. "What is this about a time loop?"

"And what's a Time Twirler?" I ask.

Sunset opens a cupboard.. "The Dazzlings are using the Time Twirler to make the day repeat, and I'm the only other person who's unaffected. I've been reliving the first day of the festival for the past 3 weeks."

Is she serious? "Making the day repeat? Like the movie –"

"'Weenusk Day', yes," Sunset interrupts.

"I assume this Time Twirler is another Equestrian artifact?" Flare says.

"Uh-huh. Look for a triangular object with an eye in the center."

What? Who made this thing, the Equestrian Illuminati?! Or maybe that guy from Urgency Falls.

"How do you know the Dazzlings are behind it?" Flare asks.

"Their song lyrics, for one. 'Every day's the same', 'stuck on repeat'. _And_ one of them just said the loop is working!"

_"That's_ how you interpreted their song?"

"Well," I say, "some people have different opinions on the meanings of songs."

We start looking, checking under and inside everything. Seems like a basic tour van. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Sunset groans. "Where _is_ it?!" She's holding a toaster, and toast pops out of it. "Who leaves toast in a toaster? Honestly..."

"Sonata Dusk?" Flare responds.

The door slides open. Now _we're_ toast.

"Don't even _think_ about eating our toast, Sunset Shimmer!" Really? The _toast_ is your first concern?

She sets the toaster down and nervously chuckles.

"You catch us trespassing, Adagio," Flare says, walking into view, "and the first thing you say is 'Don't eat our toast'? That's something I'd expect from –"

Sonata gasps. "Flare!" She lunges at Flare, pulling him into a hug and knocking them both to the ground.

"Uh... G-good to see you, too, Sonata..." Adagio knows Sunset, Sonata knows Flare. I guess these _are_ the former sirens.

Aria leans down and grabs the back of Sonata's dress. "Quit glomping the trespassers." She pulls Sonata off of him.

I hold my hand out to Flare. He grabs it, and I pull him up.

"What are you doing on _our_ bus?" Adagio demands.

Hang on, wasn't Pinkie supposed to be keeping watch?

"Sorry not sorry, Adagio, but it's time to take _this_ track off repeat! I heard you admit the time loop was _your_ idea!"

"Time loop? What?! We looped a _vocal track!"_ All three laugh. Wait, so they were lip syncing?

Sunset gets off the van and grabs Adagio's arm, seeing her memories. Flare and I get off, too.

"You're... telling the truth!?"

"Of _course_ I am!" Adagio says, yanking her arm out of Sunset's grasp.

"But your song! 'Every day is the same'!"

"If I may interject for a moment," Flare says, "if you listened to the _entire_ song, you'd know it's more likely about them being stuck in this world day after day. Right?"

"No surprise our 'honorary siren' figured it out," Adagio says with finger quotes. "It's about being stuck in this miserable human world with _no_ magic or hope of returning to Equestria!" Well, there _are_ a couple ways to return. No way I'm telling them, though.

"And by the way," Aria says, "if there's Equestrian magic afoot around here, we call dibs." She looks at Flare. "You wanna hand over your geode?"

"Nah, I think I'll keep it," he says. "It's safer around my finger than around your necks." He looks at Sonata. "Thanks for telling them, by the way," he says with a bit of sarcasm.

"You're welcome!" she says, cheerful.

"He was being sarcastic, Sonata," Aria says, irritated.

"Oh. Ohh, was I supposed to keep that secret? Whoopsie!" she says with a shrug.

"I mean, I don't really give a crap," Flare says. "Tell whoever you want. It's not like I use the thing much, anyway. Aside from testing it out on Olivia here, I've only used it three times: Once on someone who was protected by Equestrian magic, once where my friends stepped in before I could really do anything, and once to stop a bully from targeting us."

"So give it to _us,"_ Aria says. _"We'll_ make better use of it."

"I'd rather not."

Sunset says, "I thought if _anyone_ would want to be able to redo the day and fix their mistakes, it's _you three."_ I wouldn't mind redoing today. It'd make next Saturday never come.

"We made the mistake of using our powers to manipulate Canterlot High School," Adagio says, "and we've paid the price for it... with _our_ magic!" She points to Flare. "And now _that_ boy has it!"

"Unless you count the _magic_ of vocal processing!" Sonata says.

"Which I don't!" Adagio angrily says.

"That would explain how they're able to sing again," Flare says.

Adagio takes a moment to regain her composure. "What I'm saying is, we already get a do-over every new day. It's called living life."

"You should try it sometime!" Sonata says. All three laugh again.

"I _can't!"_ Sunset yells.

"Poor Sunset Shimmer..." Aria says, clearly antagonizing Sunset. "Are you _mad?"_

"I don't _get_ a new day, okay? I get _this_ day, forever! Nothing changes! I can't tell you how _sick_ I am of Pinkie Pie ruining everything by running off to get _churros!_ I _hate_ churros!"

Uh... Damn... Where did _that_ come from?

"Oh!" Pinkie's back, holding a plate of what I think are churros. "I, uh, just wanted to say the Dazzlings are back, but I see you see they see you've seen them and you've seen me too, so, um..." Visibly upset, she puts the plate in her secret hair compartment. "See ya!" She starts crying, then says something I can't understand and runs away.

You know, I've gotten annoyed at Pinkie's antics before, but I've learned to just roll with it even if it takes you out of your way. I don't get _this_ mad.

"Pinkie! I didn't mean it!"

"If the day's always the same," Adagio says, "maybe _you're_ the one who needs to change."

The Dazzlings get into the van and drive away.

"And _this_ is why I'm hesitant to be Sonata's friend," Flare whispers to me.

"They're kinda right, though," I whisper back. "Sunset's bitchy side still shows up from time to time."

"I know, but they could've been less antagonistic." He looks at the van as it fades into the distance. "I _want_ to be Sonata's friend, but I guess some things never change."

I look at Sunset, who is very upset. "They _sure_ don't." Some of the fear from when she was _always_ like this is creeping back. I know she's better, but I still have the urge to flee. It's not a feeling that completely went away. I remember when she started wearing those spiked clothes. That brought back those awful memories. Thankfully those memories don't have the same effect now that they did then.

Sunset runs after Pinkie. Well, I guess we're going through today again.


	5. Shonichi

We're sitting outside the RV, eagerly waiting for Sunset to wake up so we can enter the festival together. Flare and I are engaged in our 4th favorite thing to do. We're holding both of each other's hands and giving each other quick kisses, which is the furthest I'm comfortable going in public. I like when he gets grabby, but only when we're alone.

"Starswirl day one!" I hear Rainbow yell. I open one eye and look in that direction. "Come and get it!" She's holding some type of oar, which she lifts in excitement, and Sunset – who must've just walked out of the RV – ducks out of the way.

"Not today!"

Flare and I separate. "It sounds like Sunset's awake," he says.

She looks at us. "Olivia, you should wear a Cheese Sandwich shirt today."

"Uh... Why?"

"Trust me on this."

Does she know something I don't? Maybe she's heard the rumor. Eh, might as well. The DragonHearts concert isn't until tomorrow, anyway.

I hear someone spit something out, then they start laughing. I look that way. Applejack has apple juice all over her shirt and Fluttershy is laughing.

"Sorry!" Fluttershy says. "That one has animals in it!"

Pinkie rushes over to them. "What do you call a PostCrush fan with three eyes?"

Sunset joins her. "You call her Pinkie Pie because you spell your name with three 'i's!" The two of them grab each other's hands and giddily spin away.

Heh! I see what she did there.

"Ohh..." Fluttershy says. "Heh heh. Puns."

Seriously? "She... _really_ couldn't figure that out on her own?" I whisper to Flare.

"Probably because there weren't any animals in it," he whispers back.

* * *

After a change of clothes for Applejack and switching to a dark blue Cheese Sandwich shirt for myself, we start walking to the festival gate. The anticipation is almost unbearable! My first music festival!

"In your face, mud!" Sunset yells behind me.

Wha? I look behind me. Sunset is standing over a mud puddle, looking angrily at it.

"Uh... You okay?" I ask.

She walks past me, as cheerful as she was back at the RV. "Never better."

Sunset stands at the middle line, and Pinkie joins her. "A line?! Ah! This day's already amazing!"

"I know! Pick whichever one you want. They're _all_ slow, but security... is an art. It _can't_ be rushed." O...kay...

"I mean, she's not wrong," Flare says. "Guest safety is top priority for _any_ event. If that means it takes a little longer to get people in, so be it."

"Yeah... Is it just me or is Sunset a little _too_ happy today?" I quietly say.

"It _is_ a bit strange. I haven't seen her _this_ happy since she and I had our first..." He stops, then clears his throat. "Anyway, let's just get in line."

I know where he was going. Honestly, I don't care if he talks about his time with Sunset around me as long as he's not telling other people.

We get in the line on the right.

I look at the center line. Pinkie is bouncing with excitement. She and Sunset are probably the only people on the planet who actually _like_ standing in lines.

The only downside to wearing my Cheese shirt is it doesn't look right if I tie it in a way that exposes my midriff, so I have to wear it properly. Ever since I wore a bikini for one of our beach visits last summer, I've gotten more confident showing a little skin in public. Flare was the reason I dared wear one in the first place, and he loved it. Even today, a couple months after our first time, he still likes when I expose myself like this. Knowing that makes up for any embarrassment I might feel wearing shirts like that in public.

"Um... Excuse me... Olivia Frost?" That voice... Why _her?_

I close my eyes. "Flare? Is the person behind me who I think she is?" I calmly asks.

"Uh... Th-That depends. Who, um... Who do you think it is?"

I hope for her sake I don't flip out the moment I see her. "Well, it sounds like one Wallflower Blush." I open my eyes and turn around. Sure enough, it's her. "What the _hell_ do you want?!"

"I..." She looks very afraid to be around me. As well she should be. "I want to... t-talk about what I did last year."

"You mean how you tried to take away my boyfriend's memories of me because you didn't like that Sunset was never _specifically_ nice to _you?!"_ And my other friends' high school memories.

She gulps. "I'm s-sure you want to beat the stuffing out of me, and I probably deserve it." To be honest, I think she deserves to have _everybody's_ memories of her erased. And I mean _eve-ry-bo-dy!_ "But, um... I... I want to apologize."

Is she serious? "Apologize? That was a _year_ ago, and _now_ you want to apologize?!"

"In-In her defense," Flare says to me, _"you_ said you didn't want to see her."

"I _should've_ said this last year," Wallflower says, "but I was too afraid of what you would do to me. Flare told me how important he is to you and what you've been through with Sunset. I'm very, _very_ sorry. I was so intent on making _her_ miserable, I didn't think how miserable it would make _other_ people."

"You sure as hell didn't!" Well, I'm not _as_ mad as I would've been if she did this right away. I guess time _does_ heal all wounds. Or at least make the wounds less painful. I guess I _could_ forgive her. "If I got my hands on that rock a year and a half ago, who's to say I wouldn't have done the same? Make Sunset Shimmer suffer like she made _me_ suffer, not caring who else gets hurt. I mean, _I_ would be more justified than _you."_ I did say last year making her suffer wouldn't have changed anything, but I probably _would_ get a little satisfaction out of it. "What angered me the most was your reasoning. But," I say with a sigh, "I forgave Sunset for ruining my life and I forgave Juniper for trapping us in her mirror." Who was _also_ more justified than Wallflower. I hold out my hand. "I accept your apology."

"You do?!" she says, surprised. She slowly reaches for my hand.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be your friend. All this means is I don't hold a grudge against you anymore."

She grabs my hand. "Hey, I'll take it! I can finally sleep at night knowing you won't kill me if you see me."

* * *

We get to the front of the line. The security guard runs her metal detector wand up and down Flare, then puts a wristband on him and scans it. She does the same for me, and like at the Cheese concert my fake leg doesn't set off the wand. We join the others. Sunset and Pinkie aren't here yet.

"We're waiting for Sunset _again,"_ Flare says.

"Their line _was_ moving pretty slowly," Rainbow says.

"Security checks, am I right?" I jokingly say. Sunset knows all about security, it seems.

"I saw you made up with Wallflower Blush," Twilight says to me.

"Yup. We're not friends, but I don't hate her anymore."

"One step at a time, right?" Fluttershy says.

Wallflower walks through the security gate. "One step at a time." I wave at her, and she waves back.

A minute later, Sunset and Pinkie enter the festival and walk over to us. Upon reaching us, Sunset grabs Pinkie's cheeks and points her head in the direction of something behind us.

Pinkie gasps. "Win a tandem bicycle?!" She zips off in that direction, and Sunset follows.

"You have fun, now!" Applejack yells to them.

Flare chuckles. "Sunset knows Pinkie _so_ well."

I look at him and hold out my hand. "Shall we?"

He takes my hand in his. "We shall."

* * *

After roaming around the festival for a while, it's time for the first act: Weez. I saw some rumors online that a certain comedian might be making an appearance during their show. No word on who it might be, but I have a hunch. And apparently, so does Sunset. Even if they're not true, the band is pretty good. I've heard like 20 of their songs, so I'm not unfamiliar with them. We're somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

The band takes the stage and everyone cheers. They start with "My Name Is Wepeel", followed by a few songs I'm not familiar with and several more I _do_ know.

"You've been a rockin' crowd today!" the frontman says about 40 or so minutes into the set. I should probably look up what his name is so I don't have to call him 'Weez's lead singer' all the time. "I think you all deserve a special treat! We're gonna take you... on a distant voyage." Oh, I think I know what's next! Sounds like everyone else does, too. "It's time... to bless the rains." This is the loudest the crowd's been all night.

They start playing. I'm not sure which I like better, this cover or the original.

"We're gonna take the time to do the things we never

Haaaaaaave~"

I mean, it's not the _best_ song from either band, but it's up there.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Cheese Sandwich!" No way!

Walking onto the stage, sure enough, is the man himself, accordion in hand!

Oh my gosh! I shut my eyes and let out a loud squeal. The rumors were true! _"Woooooo!"_ Yes, yes, _yes!_ He plays the keyboard solo on his accordion. Okay, I don't care _how_ much fun Sunset and Pinkie have at the PostCrush concert. _Nothing_ beats a... somewhat... surprise appearance from Cheese!

"Hurry, boy, she's waiting there for you"

So... _awesome!_ As the last chorus begins, I _finally_ stop yelling. The song finishes, and everyone is cheering. I can barely hear _myself_ yelling again!

"Thank you, Starswirl! Enjoy the rest of the festival! Let's have another round of applause for Cheese Sandwich!"

Oh, man! I wonder if I can get a chant going.

"Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!"

I hear Flare join in, then a few people around us, and within seconds the entire audience joins in. Cheese waves to everyone, and they let out another loud cheer. Best. Festival concert. Ever!

* * *

"That was amazing!" I say, voice a little raspy. "I can't believe the rumors were true!"

"I wonder _how_ people found out," Flare says. "I wonder how _Sunset_ knew."

I look at him. "Maybe someone in charge of the festival let it slip to one of their friends."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. At least they were smart enough to just say 'a comedian'. But Sunset specifically told you to wear a Cheese shirt."

"Lucky guess?" She was so sure about it, though.

"Step right up!" A voice to our left gets my attention. "Don't be shy!" A couple men have a booth set up of some sort.

"You want prizes?" the man on the right says. "We got prizes!"

I look at Flare. "Eh, why not?" We walk over to the booth. Both men are wearing white pants, blue-and-white striped shirts, and a black bow tie. They have red hair with yellow highlights, and the one on the right has a mustache.

"Throw this softball," the man on the left says, holding a ball, "at these milk bottles to knock 'em down! Easy as pie!" He throws it at the bottles, knocking them over with ease.

I'm _pretty_ sure it's not that easy. "That _does_ look easy!"

"Liv, are you _sure_ you want to do this?" Flare asks.

"Like I said, why not? Seems easy enough."

"Sure, it _seems_ easy enough, but remember what Twilight and Sunset said happened at the amusement park?"

"That was the ring toss game. The most rigged carnival game in existence. This is knocking over a few bottles!" I lean toward him. "I know it's rigged. Let's agree to a limit," I whisper. "If neither of us gets it in three tries, we walk. Maybe we'll get lucky, maybe we won't. I'm not letting either of us spend all our money on this game."

"Got it." He looks at the men. "Okay, my girlfriend has convinced me. We'll give it a whirl."

"Excellent!"

"Wonderful!"

I hand them a dollar. "Ladies first," I say. The man on the left takes it and gives me a ball, and the other man sets up the bottles.

I take aim at the center and throw. It knocks the top bottle off, but the bottom two barely move.

None of my other two throws nor Flare's first two are able to do much better. My third throw missed the bottles completely!

"Mind if _I_ try?" a voice behind us says.

We turn around. Sunset and Pinkie are here, and they have a two-seater bicycle. Must be that thing Sunset showed Pinkie earlier.

Flare hands Sunset the ball. "Go for it."

She looks hard at the bottles, then winds up and throws the ball. It hits the bottles and knocks all of them down.

"Damn, Sunshim!" I say. "How'd you do that so easily?"

She shrugs. "Practice, I guess."

"Uh..." The guys running the booth look shocked.

"We... have a winner! Congratulations, young lady!" He motions to the wall of prizes. "Take your pick!"

"Your choice, Flare," Sunset says.

He looks at me. "Liv?"

I didn't even think about what I wanted. "Let's see..." I glance at each prize. They're all stuffed animals.

I'm eyeing those light gray bunnies. Holding Fluttershy's bunny is very calming, and I wonder if holding a fake stuffed one would have the same effect.

"I'll take a light gray bunny," I say.

"You heard her," Sunset says.

The man on the left grabs one off the wall and hands it to me. "Another satisfied customer!"

"A winner every time! It's _that_ easy, folks!" Yeah, sure...

We walk away from the booth.

"How _did_ you knock those over in one try?" Flare asks.

"I've played this game a _lot,"_ Sunset says. "It's also satisfying to best _them_ after last year."

"Well, thanks for the help."

"Cute bunny!" Pinkie says to me. "What's her name?"

Name? She _does_ know this isn't a real rabbit, right? "Uh..." I suppose I could humor her. What would a good female rabbit name be...

"Her name is April," Flare says.

April... I like that name. "Yup! April." Filing that under 'possible daughter names'.

"Eee!" Pinkie squeals excitedly. "Gummy has a new playdate!"

"Well..." I mean, I'd rather cuddle with it when my boyfriend's not around instead of play childish games with it, but I don't want to be rude. I can probably play along and let her down gently. I look at the bunny. "What's that, girl?" I move it to my ear, shaking it to act like it's whispering something. "Gummy is a baby alligator." I shake it again. "You don't?" I shake it again. "I see... Okay, I'll tell her." I move it away and look at Pinkie. "Sorry, Pinkie. April is _terrified_ of alligators. We'll have to pass."

"Aww... But Gummy wouldn't hurt anyone! He doesn't even have teeth!"

"I know, but that's how fear works. No amount of telling me rollercoasters are safe will get me to ride another one." I start petting the stuffed bunny. "If April is afraid of gators, I won't force her to spend time with one. You understand, don't you?"

She looks a little disappointed. "I guess..."

I'll probably _need_ April to make it through the next several weeks... or even _months..._

* * *

We exit the Neon Garden.

"Man, I was _not_ expecting it to be a maze," I say.

"Yeah, but once we figured _that_ out, it was easy to get through."

"Follow the left wall. How did you know to do that?"

"It was the only thing I remember from those old Mickey Dee's cartoons on DVD." In a deeper voice, he says, "'It's not hard to understand. Find the door with your left hand.'"

I feel like I've seen commercials for those. "What was that, a riddle episode?"

"Pretty much. They were trapped in a creepy mansion, and some floating head kept giving them riddles to solve."

Music starts playing nearby. I look in that direction. There's a large blue stage set up, with a cloud of green smoke obscuring whoever's on it.

_"Where do we go? Every day's the same"_

"I don't remember seeing anyone on the schedule for this area today," Flare says.

"Late addition?" I say.

_"So ordinary, stuck on repeat"_

"Hang on..." Flare says. "Those singers sound familiar..."

We walk over to the crowd. The smoke starts to clear from the stage, and now we can see who's performing.

"The Dazzlings?" Man, it's been a while since I've seen _them._

"Okay... How? They lost their voices when our friends destroyed their pendants!"

Huh? "What do you... Oh, right. _Those_ Dazzlings." I forgot about the sirens.

He looks at me, confused. "What other Dazzlings _are_ there?"

"The ones from Crystal Prep? I told you about them after the Friendship Games."

"Uh... You did?"

"I... You..." What, was he _that_ distracted by Princess Twilight showing up immediately after? I remove my glasses and facepalm. "Yes... It was right before Princess Twilight showed up." I put them back on. "I thought you were talking about _those_ Dazzlings, not _these_ Dazzlings."

"I..." He pauses. "I honestly don't remember that. Maybe it's because I see Sonata at work every Tuesday for the past year."

"How do you know which Sonata it is?"

"She always says hi to me, and we talked a couple weeks before you and I visited Equestria. It's siren Sonata."

The lyrics to their song seem to imply they're tired of spending day after day in this world. I guess when you spend centuries living in a world that's very different from your own, it can become tiresome.

After they're finished singing, Adagio lets out an annoyed sigh and says, "That song's called... 'Find the Magic'." She holds the mic out and says something else, then drops it. All three walk off-stage.

"Kinda odd they would perform at a festival called Starswirl," Flare says.

"It is?"

"I didn't tell you?"

"Starlight told us about the Pillars of Equestria, but _you_ didn't say anything about them." Unless there's _another_ Starswirl?

"Well, Starswirl the Bearded and the other Pillars are why the sirens are in this world in the first place. Lured them toward a portal, flew out of the way at the last second, sirens kept on going."

_That's_ how they did it? "Wow... Way to take the easy way out, guys. You're giving the Order of the Stone a run for their money with _that_ one." Well, the Pillars weren't _that_ cheap. "Yeah, I don't see why the sirens would perform here."

The trio walk past a security guard, who ropes off the exit behind them.

"Maybe we could ask them tomorrow if they're still here."

Our backstage passes are only valid tomorrow. "I doubt they'll want anything to do with you."

"Sonata would, and I bet she could annoy Aria enough to make her give in."

"Worth a try, I guess." We start walking away from the stage. Now that I think about it, there's one thing about his encounter with the sirens I don't understand. "So why _did_ you tell them what you were going through? They could've hopped on the bullying bandwagon."

"I... don't really know. I guess I was hoping they'd be different than everyone else since they were new to CHS. Kinda like when you gave me a chance."

That day... "I'm _so_ glad I did."

"Me, too." He kisses me.

If I hadn't accepted his offer, I'd be in Manehattan right now. I wonder if I would've been as happy. Would I have met a guy as great as Flare? Would I have shut everyone out to avoid a repeat of CHS? I mean, I kinda did that at Crystal Prep, but that was because the students wanted nothing to do with an ex-Wondercolt. It was such a life-changing decision, I can't help but think about what could've been.

* * *

I spot Pinkie and Sunset near a food stand. "There are the superfans."

We walk over to them. "Hey, girls," Flare says. "Getting a snack before the PostCrush concert?"

"Oh, churros! I haven't had those since I was in, like... fifth grade!"

Sunset grabs a couple of hers. "Wanna try one?"

"No thanks," Flare says. "I don't like churros."

I grab one. "Sure." There's a _lot_ of cinnamon on it. I don't remember the last one I ate being _this_ covered. And are those pink and white star bits? Certainly more flashy than 7 years ago. I take a bite, but the churro doesn't budge and I end up with a bit of tooth pain. "Ow!"

"Like eating a crowbar, right?" Sunset says.

"No kidding." How are you supposed to eat these? "You could chip a tooth if you're not careful!"

"It'd be a more interesting way to chip a tooth than _I_ did," Flare says.

He's chipped a tooth before? That's news to me. "When was this?"

"Second grade. For whatever reason, I was in a hurry to get to the bus stop. I was running there and wasn't watching where I was going. Next thing I know, I smacked my face against a telephone pole."

"Ouch..." Why were you in a hurry to get to school in _second grade?_ What, was it pizza day in the cafeteria?

"Did you get the day off of school?" Sunset asks.

"I don't remember. It's not like I broke my leg." That was during the summer, but I probably would've gotten at least a _week_ off from the emotional trauma. "My mom probably cleaned up my face and sent me to school, then made a dentist appointment. I _might_ have gotten the day off when I had a root canal done on the tooth, but that was on a Saturday."

That sounds even more painful than chipping the tooth in the first place. "Was it as bad as everyone says it is?"

He groans. "I _hate_ when people say that. The surgeons gave me some of that laughing gas and numbed the area. No pain whatsoever." So it's like the 'bull in a china shop' saying? "Well, it got infected, but I was a stupid 7-year-old who didn't think taking the antibiotics was important."

"Hey, we were _all_ stupid 7-year-olds once," I say with a smile.

"What stupid thing did _you_ do?"

Only one thing sticks out. I've never told anybody this, but it's not something I absolutely _need_ to keep secret. My old friends probably told everyone anyway. "I got my leg stuck in a fence. My friends and I were throwing one of those disc things and I accidentally threw it into a backyard. The house was surrounded by a metal fence. I figured the gaps were small enough for me to squeeze through. They weren't. I got my leg through, but I couldn't get it back out."

"Okay, how many times _did_ you get your leg stuck?"

"Just twice." Unless the same thing happened when I was an infant. I wouldn't be surprised if it got stuck between the crib's bars once or twice. "My friends ran around the house to get help, and that's when the woman who lived there found out. She saw I was stuck, then went back in the house and got some melted butter. She poured it on the sides of my leg and I was able to wiggle free."

"At least it didn't need to be cut off," Sunset says. I'm not sure if she's talking about the fence post or my leg.

_"This_ time, anyway," Flare says. _He_ thinks she's talking about the latter.

"The worst part is she would've gladly gotten the disc for us if we asked her," I say. "The gate at the front was open."

"All that hassle for nothing," Sunset says.

"No kidding."

Someone's voice from behind Sunset catches our attention. "Your lousy golf cart broke down on me for the last time!" A man in a tuxedo seems mad at the woman running the churro stand. "Find someone _else_ to deliver churros backstage to PostCrush, because I _quit!"_ He drops a set of keys on the ground and storms off.

Well... _That_ just happened.

"Three," Flare whispers, "two, one."

_"We_ can deliver churros to PostCrush," Sunset says.

"See?"

"You _really_ think she'll let two fans take these bricks to the band?" I quietly ask.

Sunset walks behind us and brings over the bicycle from earlier. "We have our own transportation! _And_ we'll do it for free!"

"Yes," Flare says. "Yes she will."

* * *

We're standing in the middle of the crowd waiting for PostCrush. Since we're so close to the stage, might as well check out the show. We weren't planning on watching them seeing how I'm not a huge fan of theirs, but it's not like there's much else to do. We'd end up walking around like we've done for most of the day.

...

PostCrush... They're good. Not a group I'd buy a concert ticket for, but I enjoy their songs. Which... describes like two-thirds of the artists I've heard. Honestly, the only ones I'd want a ticket for are Songbird Serenade, DragonHearts, The Progeny, and the obvious Cheese Sandwich. Songbird and DH are performing tomorrow, Cheese played today, and no sign of the punk rockers. Maybe they'll make a surprise appearance for... I don't know... Skullcruncher? _That_ would be a sight.

...

...

What happened to Sunset and Pinkie? It shouldn't take _this_ long to deliver inedible churros to a band.

"Those two have been gone a long time," Flare says. It's like he can read my mind. "Maybe they were so starstruck, they couldn't help asking like a hundred questions, and the duo are too polite to turn them away."

"I don't think anybody's _that_ polite. 'We're getting ready for the show and don't want to be bothered, but okay, we'll answer all your questions!' Even _Fluttershy_ would say no!"

"Yeah, I guess. Well, maybe they got kicked out."

"Kicked out?"

"Sure. They _did_ keep asking questions, and PostCrush called security to escort them out of the festival."

"Okay, I know they're superfans and all, but there's no way they'd bombard PostCrush with a bunch of questions, _especially_ if the duo asked them to stop."

"You're saying _you_ wouldn't ask Cheese Sandwich a million questions if you met him? I remember how you reacted to seeing his pony counterpart."

I remember, too. "I was starstruck, and that's it." For all of 10 seconds. "I _wasn't_ going to ask a million questions!"

"Maybe I should buy us the VIP package next time he performs in town and find out."

"Maybe you _should."_ I mean, he _absolutely_ should.

A woman over the intercom says, "Let me hear three big cheers for the two best friends..." Through a small cloud of pink smoke near the floor, a few people rise up. "...who got back together for one incredible night!" On stage are – "PostCrush!"

Wait... "Sunset and Pinkie?" My eyes aren't deceiving me. Sunset and Pinkie are on the stage with K-Lo and Su-Z, but they're fighting over something.

Sunset knocks it out of... Su-Z's hand, I think?... and stomps on it. A black cloud of some sort emerges from the object, then explodes into a bright light, resulting in... sparkly... somethings... raining down.

"That was an object infused with Equestrian magic, wasn't it?" Flare says.

Yeah, that sounds about right. "Or an object _from_ Equestria."

"How do those things keep getting here? Is this world a trash can ponies throw their unwanted junk into?"

_That_ would be something. Now I'm imagining there's a trash can somewhere in Equestria that contains a portal to this world. The one pony who doesn't have to set their garbage bins out every week. Wait, how _do_ ponies get rid of their trash? There's no garbage truck to pick it up. Come to think of it, I didn't see any cans at the sides of Ponyville's houses when we made that unexpected trip to Equestria during the cruise.

The crowd starts to cheer, then chant the duo's name. I'm guessing everybody thought that was part of the show.

"What do you think they were doing with that thing?" Flare asks me.

Good question. "It's Equestrian magic. The sky's the limit with this stuff."

"Yes, but I mean what would PostCrush have to gain?"

"I don't know... Try to make their performance perfect? Not sure how that's a bad thing, though."

"Yeah, I doubt Sunset would smash a device that does something _that_ harmless. It could've been like one of the sirens' pendants."

"You think they were controlling the crowd?"

"Why not? They know they don't sound great live, so they convince everyone that they _do_ sound great."

I chuckle. "Do you have magic prediction powers now, too?"

"Hey, my first prediction was wrong. Sunset and Pinkie didn't get kicked out. That _would_ be pretty neat, though. All my predictions coming true..."

I shake my head. "It's not as neat as you think. Remember the clover thing?" Ironic, seeing how I'd like to _forget_ it.

"Oh... yeah, I see your point. Well, we can ask Sunset and Pinkie after the concert."

The duo start their performance. Sunset and Pinkie are still on-stage. Whatever they did, those two forgave them. Can't say I'm surprised. I can't help but feel a little jealous of them. Being on-stage with their favorite musical act? My only claim to fame – _lame_ claim to fame, if you will – is Cheese Sandwich singing to me in the aisle I have Yakyakistanian hands. It was as incredible as I expected, but I wasn't, y'know, _sharing the stage_ with him!

The drummer kicks one of her drum pads over to Pinkie, then the guitarist throws an extra guitar to Sunset. You have _got_ to be kidding...

"Oh, _come on!_ Cheese sings to me, but _these two_ get to _perform_ with PostCrush?!"

"I thought him singing to you was what you wanted the most!" Flare yells over the music.

"Yeah it was, but nothing tops _that!"_ I yell, gesturing to the stage.

"What would you even _do?!_ You can't play any instruments!"

"I don't know... Sing backup on 'Aluminum Foil'?! I'd figure something out!"

"Sounds like you're a bit jealous!"

"A _bit_ jealous!?" Understatement of the decade right there! I'm a bigger Cheese fangirl than they are PostCrush fangirls! Hell, I've been a Cheese fan longer than Sunset's been in this world! Why do _they_ get a free 'ultimate VIP' treatment?!

It's moments like this when I kinda wish I held onto those "good luck charms".

* * *

*****Day Two*****

After the concert was over, Sunset explained to us what happened on-stage. For the past 3 weeks, she had been reliving the first day of the festival again and again. This was caused by an Equestrian artifact called the Time Twirler. After trying everything she could think of to break the loop, she found the culprit yesterday... or rather, culprits. PostCrush had been using it to put on the perfect concert. Good intentions, but somehow it wasn't affecting Sunset, and she doesn't know why. Flare suggested it's because the artifact doesn't affect people not from the world it's used in, but Sunset said the sirens weren't affected.

Now that I know about the hell she was going through, I don't mind what happened last night. After 3 weeks of reliving yesterday, I say she deserved to have that "once in a lifetime" experience. I would've _loved_ to relive yesterday for 3 weeks. It'd only prolong the inevitable, but I'd be less stressed.

The second day of the festival was almost as fun as yesterday. DragonHearts were as rockin' as I expected. They sounded pretty good live, unlike what everyone on the Internet likes to say. Songbird Serenade was just as amazing to watch as her pony counterpart was. Oddly enough, the new song she debuted was "Rainbow", the exact same song pony Songbird sang after the Storm King invasion was thwarted.

We didn't get to chat with the Dazzlings. Their van was gone when we checked. To be honest, I was hoping they were still here. I want to meet the people who helped get him to stop being miserable, even if it was completely unintentional.

It's the end of the day and we're all at the RV. As much fun as this all was, one thing has been in the back of my mind all weekend. I can't put it off any longer.

"Say, Flarey?" I say to him. "I... I need to talk to you about something in private."

"Did... I do something wrong?" he asks, worried.

"No, it's nothing like that. I just..." I lean to his ear and whisper, "I don't want the others knowing yet."

"Okay..." I lead him into the RV and close the door behind me.

I take a deep breath. "Flare... I..." Just be blunt about it. Like ripping off a bandage.

"Liv?"

Just say it.

"My parents and I are moving."

* * *

**A/N: After 6 months of procrastinating, it's done. I had a more in-depth second day planned but I had no motivation to work on it. Anyway, I have one more story in mind and that'll conclude the tale of these two. If I get around to writing it, that is. If nothing else, I'll write a summary story that includes all of my "canon" points that never got an actual story, like the clover thing.  
**


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